


Tribulations on the Path to Trust

by Fandoms_ruined_me123



Series: Whumptober 2020 [12]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Bad Parents Jack and Janet Drake, Blood and Injury, Child Neglect, Delirium, Good Older Sibling Dick Grayson, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Reveal, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Insecure Tim Drake, Post-Concussion Syndrome, Tim Drake Needs a Hug, Tim Drake is Robin, Tim Drake-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:35:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27198590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fandoms_ruined_me123/pseuds/Fandoms_ruined_me123
Summary: Robin was stuck, they were all stuck. It had been months since they started working together but they didn't trust each other nearly as much as they should have. He knew it was his fault. The other three had no problems trusting each other. They knew everything about each other, they didn't even know his eye color. However after a mission goes wrong and Robin gets injured, they ended up leaning a bit more about their resident bat than they were anticipating.Whumptober 2020 prompt 26: Concussion, prompt 25: disorientation
Relationships: Bart Allen & Tim Drake & Kon-El | Conner Kent & Cassie Sandsmark, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson
Series: Whumptober 2020 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950364
Comments: 9
Kudos: 295





	Tribulations on the Path to Trust

**Author's Note:**

> These stories are getting progressively longer. I tried to write one and I ended up making an entire au that's going to be multiple chapters and I made a whole world for it with the help of Elise. Long story short uhh what's sleep? I had a lot of fun writing this because I absolutely love the core four group and I am definitely going to be writing more. I want to write a little bit more of core four angst. Also, I accidentally combined two prompts into one story and then realized I didn't have anything to do for the other prompt so I just labeled them both for this story! 
> 
> And as always thank you to my amazing beta else who helped protect me when our child, Garold the ghost rat, tried to scratch through the wall while I was writing this!! Omg seriously I just heard him

Working as a team is a skill many need, but not everyone has. Some things may simply be down to the individual person and their outlook on life, but it can also be affected by the situation. One of the first things that needed to be developed was communication. Without a healthy line of communication, nothing could ever be accomplished. Another thing to take into consideration would be attempting to understand the people around you. To know how the other people work and in what conditions do they thrive in. Under pressure would they sink or swim? When faced with failure would they shatter or pick themself back up? But one thing anyone who had ever worked in a team would tell you is that there needs to be trust. They would tell you that you need to be able to trust those you work with to have your back and then need to know the same about you. Knowing how someone performs is not the same thing as trusting them to get something done. A person could read a psychoanalysis of someone from a file, but until they meet face to face and talk they will never know what they are truly like. Trust is the fundamental building block to anything a team would need to complete and without it, there would only be failure. 

Tim knew the importance of trust first hand. He knew how he needed to trust the person he patrolled with to protect him in a fight or catch him when he fell. He needed to know exactly what they would do if he was in trouble. He needed to know what their first instinct would be. He needed to know that if he gave them an outline of a plan that they would follow through because in the field they might not have those precious moments to explain the plan fully. Tim knew the importance of the people he worked with trusting him. They needed to know that when they needed him the most he would be there. They needed to know that he would have their back in a fight or would catch them when they fell. He had earned Bruce’s trust when he kept their identity a secret and with every day they fought side by side he earned it even more. It was rarely said out loud, but they both knew it. He still didn’t know what he had done to earn Dick’s trust. It seemed to be something the older man gave out easily but to a select few. He knew it had something to do with Dick’s regret. Tim knew that with every day that passed he regretted never getting to know him, regretted that he pushed him away. So when Tim had come around, Dick seemed to almost latch onto him. However, he didn’t think it made any sense. Jason was his brother and Tim was just the neighbor. But Dick trusted him with his life on patrol, so Tim never brought it up. 

One thing Tim did not know, however, was how to earn someone’s trust. In theory, it seemed to work but in practice, it was much harder. He tried to listen to Bruce and Dick as they explained how to gain someone’s trust when they don’t even know your name. He wanted to explain the situation to them but he didn’t want to bother them further. He had already taken up so much of their time as they attempted to explain something to him that Dick had taken up easily. But this wasn’t Dicks old team. By the time that Dick has joined the team, he had been on the streets of Gotham for years. His name was well known in and out of the caped community. He was Batman’s partner and an experienced hero, that made people trust him. But Tim didn’t have any of that. His name was known to civilians because of those who had come before him. Within the caped community, they spoke about him in hushed whispers. His name was never without mention of Dick or Jason. While they never spoke of it to his face he knew they did. They spoke of Jason’s death and looked at him with pity as if they were expecting him to die as well. But what they did the most was compare him to his predecessors. He knew he wasn’t as flexible as Dick or as strong as Jason but it still stung to hear. When Batman offered him for the new team he knew they were skeptical but agreed nonetheless. 

Tim knew that trust grew over time. And that everyone starts out rough, but as you get to know them more they would become closer. The four of them had gotten to know each other decently over the months they had worked together, but he couldn't help but feel as if they had come to a standstill. Cassie, Conner, and Bart all seemed to be such close friends but Tim only felt like an acquaintance. They didn’t treat him any differently but they could all see the elephant in the room. They knew so much about him but not knowing his name made it seem as if they knew nothing at all. The only details of his life he could share were vague at best, and they hadn’t even seen his eyes. Tim didn’t know what it would be like to work with someone like, that but he knew he would be handling it much worse than they were. They all learned early on that asking questions would lead to nowhere and for the most part they gave up. Well, all expert for Bart who seemed incapable to take no for an answer and still would occasionally pester him for information. 

“Where next?” Cassie whispered. Her voice echoing slightly off the pristine white corridors that extended to either side of them but was drowned out by the alarms that blared throughout the intercoms. Tim glanced down at the device in front of him as he plotted their next move. They were deep within the labyrinth of a building and it was only moments before their location was discovered. It was only supposed to be a recon mission, but with the Justice League in space and most heroes preoccupied, it fell to them. They had retrieved the information from deep in the laboratory when the alarm sounded and quickly they ran. A split-second decision that might have saved them then but only ended up with them lost. 

“Each path can lead us to the exit,” Tim stated as he gestured to the choices in front of them. “The right path leads us to the exit on the south side. We would be bursting out through the entrance which is the heaviest guarded place in the compound but we would be outside. To the left, we would continue through the building before coming out further up. We’d run the risk of being spotted more with the left and these tight hallways are not idealistic for any of our fighting stances. I think we should go to the right,”

“And leave through the front door?” Cassie asked skeptically. “Shouldn’t we go through the building and avoid the most heavily guarded place?”

“If we continue through the building and pass anyone we would be quickly seen,” Tim argued, his eyes fixed on the device as he watched heat signatures heading towards their location. “On the outside, we could try to sneak past,”

“And what happens when we get caught?” 

“I have a plan and I’ll explain it on the way, but we need to go,” He looked up at all of them as they looked at him confused.

“Why can’t you just explain it now?” Bart asked as he glanced between Tim and Cassie quickly.

“Because it’s just an idea and I’d need to see what’s out there to know for sure,”

“So you don’t have a plan,” Tim glared at Conner as he continued to speak. “I say we go left. Worst-case scenario we fight our way out,” His teeth ground together slightly as he watched them look at him apologetically. 

“Fine. We’re going to the left,” And with that, they began to run. Tim winced slightly as they crept through the halls. Their feet hitting the floor loudly in a way that Tim knew he could never get away with. As he ran he continued to look down at the map he had on his phone. It was classified information and had taken him a while to pin down but the hours it took to find had proven to be worth it time and time again. 

“It’s through this door,” He hissed as they made their way towards the exit. But as they turned the corner they saw they were not alone. A large group of armed men stood in their path, the sound of footsteps alerted them to the influx of people as they came up behind them. Effectively trapping them only mere meters from the door. 

“Well, that didn’t work,” Conner stated as he looked at the guns trained on him. 

“This is the part where we fight them right?” Bart asked as Tim stared at him for a moment before he nodded. “Perfect!” 

Instantly Tim rolled to the side as gunfire began to rain down around them. The bullets shot off the walls around them as he ducked behind the corner. He watched for a moment as Conner stood still. The bullets bounced off his chest as he looked down at his ripped shirt sadly before he rushed forward, Cassie by his side. Tim peered around the corner briefly as he held a batarang in his hand. The metal cold in his hand as he waited for the perfect moment to strike. Just as he threw it forward he ducked again. His back up against the wall as he pulled out his bo staff and turned to face the approaching aggressors. 

“Robin!” He turned at the sound of Cassie’s shout to see them as they left through the open door. He quickly followed behind, careful to step over the unconscious men on his way out. Suddenly a loud blast sounded throughout the building. Tim was thrown into the side of the door as the building shook violently. His head collided with the frame of the door painfully, he was knocked off his feet. The world seemed to blur as a loud ringing drowned out all other sounds around him. He stumbled to his feet, a hand on the doorframe as he shook his head gently. He felt a hand pull on him and began to pull him away. He looked up to see Conner as he ran alongside him before he paused and wrapped Tim up in his arms. As quickly as it had all begun he was lifted into the air. As they flew away from the building Tim turned his head back towards it to see the building, or what was left of it. The center of the building had caved in an explosion. Fire lit up the darkness around it as people fled from the building. 

“Robin, are you ok?” Bart asked frantically the second they walked into the tower. Tim looked at him in confusion before he lifted a hand to his head. He had noticed that it had been throbbed and stung but he didn’t think much of it. When he pulled his hand away his fingers were lightly covered in blood. 

“Oh,” He said simply as they stared at him with concern. “It’s just a scratch. I’ll be in my room if anyone needs me,” And with that, he turned and walked away. 

Tim always went to his room directly after a mission, he figured it was best to get the mission reports done when it was still fresh in his mind. Afterwards he would go to the others and debrief the mission. They all seemed to need a moment to themselves after, especially after a mission like that one. He quickly changed out of the suit and into more comfortable clothes before he headed into the bathroom. He stared into the mirror for a moment before he pulled out the first aid kit he kept inside his bathroom. It seemed easier to clean himself up than to have someone else do it for him. He knew that Dick or Jason wouldn’t have gotten hurt. They would have been faster and gotten out of there in time, or even been able to convince the others to follow his plan. He didn’t need them to have any other reason to think worse of him. 

His eyes squinted as the bright fluorescent lights seemed to burn their way into his skull. He gently pressed a damp cloth to his forehead only to find that the blood had already dried. As he leaned over the counter to get a better look at the injury the world around him began to shift. The counter blurred as he gripped onto it tightly. Slowly he guided his way to the floor and he slid down the wall behind him. The first aid kit on the counter crashed to the ground as he hit it in his attempt to keep himself from falling the rest of the way to the floor. But when his hand hit a patch of water on the counter he lost his grip. He could hear a loud thud as he hit the floor but it became difficult to process it. His head seemed to be moving to the side but he couldn’t bring himself to keep it in place as it rolled in front of him. 

Tim knew he should have been concerned when he tried to remember what had happened on the mission but instead he was only confused. Had he even been on a mission or did he come from the manor? Black dots filled his vision until it seemed to have more black than any color. His head throbbed painfully as he closed his eyes drooped shut. Exhaustion flowed through his body and he felt more tired than he had been in days. He couldn’t remember the last time he had gotten a good night's sleep. Sleep was always pushed to the side in favor of work. Sleep was a trap. It lured him in with promises of rejuvenation only to plague him with terrors that stuck with him all day. But he was so tired, he figured it wouldn’t hurt to sleep anyways and he drifted off to sleep. 

Cassie had been walking back to her room when she heard it. Something inside of Robin’s room had hit the ground. It wasn’t uncommon to hear things falling inside of their rooms but this was different. Whatever had hit the floor was large, much larger than the usual book or even computer. The hair on the back of her neck stood up slightly as she hesitated. If it were anyone else she wouldn’t have stopped for a second before knocking on their door. But there was something different about Robin. They all knew how immersed in his work he would become and how he snapped at anyone who would even attempt to break his concentration. They learned early on when to interrupt his train of thought and force him to sleep or eat something, but he fought them every time. But something about the situation seemed wrong to her. While they had all knocked something over, Robin rarely did. His movements always seemed planned as if he had thought them over in his head before doing it, which for all they knew he might have. She took a deep breath before she knocked on the door.

“Robin?” She called out as she rapped on the door. “Are you ok?” 

“What’s going on?” Conner asked as he opened his door and stepped into the hallway. 

“It might be nothing but I heard something hit the ground,” Cassie said before she knocked on the door again. “Robin?”

“What’s going on? Why are you knocking on Robs door? Is Robin ok?” They barely had time to hear the sound of Bart entering the room before he began to fire questions. His voice moved almost too fast for them to hear. 

“We don’t know,” Conner answered as Cassie began to pound on the door. Small fractures lines appeared in the door with every hit as dread pooled up in her stomach. She turned to face them, the unspoken question hanging in the air for only a moment before Conner nodded. She turned back to the door before attempting to twist the doorknob but it was knocked. As she raised her hand again it curled into a fist before she punched the door. Immediately the door fell off its hinges and crashed to the ground loudly. They wasted no time hesitating before they ran into the room. Bart zipped ahead of them into the bathroom before he exited as quickly as he had entered.

“Um, guys?” His voice shook slightly as he stared ahead at them before he glanced back into the bathroom. “Problem,”

The other two ran into the bathroom frantically before they skidded to a halt. Robin lay in a heap on the floor. His head rested gently against the cabinet and wall. The blood they had noticed earlier still matted his hair to his face but it seemed even worse the longer they looked at it. Blood peeked out from his scalp as the area around it swelled. His breathing was slow and steady as if he were sleeping. Cassie moved forward quickly before she knelt down next to him. She hesitated as she reached out, her hand raised towards his head before she stopped. 

“Bart,” She turned quickly to face him. Tears appeared in the corners of his eyes as he looked down at their fallen friend helplessly. Robin has an emergency phone in the top drawer of his desk. I need you to get that,” 

“Conner,” Bart ran out of the room as she turned to Conner who looked at her with a firm resolve. “I need you to wet a towel and get the first aid stuff all over the floor,” He nodded silently as he quickly started to work.

“I got the phone!” Suddenly Bart appeared at her side. The burner phone in hand. Cassie smiled softly at him as she took the phone. The fear that had been so prevalent on his face hadn’t gone away but she could see it was getting worse with every second he stood still. 

“I need you to go get a pillow, ice pack, and a glass of water. But you have to move slowly enough so the water doesn’t spill ok?”

“Pillow, ice pack, water, slowly. Got it!” 

“What’s the water for?” Conner asked as she softly pressed her fingers up against his neck and began to count. 

“His pulse is steady,” She stated after a long moment of silence. “The water is for Bart. I need you to go to the emergency contacts and call Nightwing,” She listened to the phone ring as panic began to rise in her chest. Slowly she shifted forward. Her arms wrapped under Robin as she gently eased him to the floor. Her head grasped his head somewhat firmly to prevent movement. She placed the pillow that had materialized next to her under his head as she gently laid him down before adjusting his head slightly. 

“Robin? What happened, what's wrong?” Nightwings voice crackled to life through the speaker as she shot around. Her eyes caught Conners as they stared at the phone for a moment before hesitantly she spoke. 

“Nightwing, it’s Wondergirl and Superboy,”

“What happened? Is Robin alright?” She flinched as Nightwings voice cracked slightly. None of them knew what had happened to the second Robin, only that there was now a third and no one under a new name. They all knew how protective the older hero was of Robin. It had taken about a month before he finally stopped coming to the tower after every mission and even longer before he stopped calling after each one.

“He’s hurt, I think a concussion. He’s unconscious but his breathing and pulse are steady but he needs medical attention,”

“Oh god. I won’t be able to get there for at least another twenty minutes isn’t there someone else you can call?” 

“The Justice League is off-world, we think Red Tornado went with them but we don’t actually know,” She explained as he exhaled sharply. 

“How bad is the concussion?” He asked quietly.

“That’s the problem. We don’t know,”

“Weren’t you all supposed to take in-depth first aid training?” 

“We were, but some of the danger signs include looking at his eyes. It looks bad and we’d need to go down the full checklist,” Cassie said slowly, her voice trailed off towards the end as she looked up at Conner who simply shrugged. There was a beat of silence before Nightwing spoke. 

“Take off his mask,”

“Sorry, what was that?”

“I said, take off his mask,” He repeated. “Take off his mask, ask the questions you normally would. He may answer as Robin or as a civilian. Any information he says stays with you. Do you understand me? If anyone finds out about his identity they would know mine and Batman’s as well. The villains in Gotham would stop at nothing to get that and we would all be dead. Now, I’m on my way, should be there in twenty minutes,” And with that, he hung up. 

Cassie stared at Conner in shock before she looked over to Robin. Slowly she moved back over to him as she took the ice pack that Bart had silently handed to her and placed it gently on his forehead. They all stood in anticipation as she hovered over him. Her fingertips ran alongside the edge of the mask before they slipped underneath and lifted it into the air. She didn’t know what she was expecting to happen. There couldn’t be a big reveal of his identity if it were being hidden by a small strip of fabric. Still, they stood in silence. She could feel Conner and Bart slowly moving as they leaned over her shoulder. All wanted to get a closer look at the mystery that they had had since the team was formed. Then his eyes shot open. 

The first thing she noticed was that his eyes were blue. His eyes weren’t a muted blue or a mixture of green, they were blue. She stared down at him and for the first time, she truly realized how young he looked. The second thing she noticed was that one of his pupils was significantly bigger than the other. He squinted his eyes shut as he groaned slightly. A hand shot up to his head as he tapped the ice pack gently in what they could only assume was confusion. His eyes slowly opened again. He looked around the room in confusion before he looked up at them. Instantly he began to move. He shifted himself up onto an arm as he attempted to either sit or stand up. Quickly Cassie gripped his shoulders and guided him back down to the floor. 

“You have a concussion and need to stay still,” He nodded slowly as he stopped trying to fight against her and relaxed into the floor. 

“Where am I?” He asked as he looked around the room again. “I’m not at the manor, am I?” 

“Uh no, you’re at base,” She explained before she inhaled deeply. “I am going to ask some questions and I need you to answer them the best you can, ok?”

“Alright?” Cassie turned to look at the others for a moment before she looked back at Robin. 

“What is your name?” He stared up at her for a second before he spoke.

“Tim,” They froze as his words sunk in. The secret that they had been kept from for months had been shared just like that and Robin, Tim seemed to think nothing of it. Cassie’s mouth hung open slightly as she went to ask another question but couldn’t bring herself to speak. Finally, she pushed back her shock and continued the questions. 

“What day is it?”

“Friday?” He asked, somewhat unsure of his answer but she nodded along.

“Do you know what happened?” Tim sat there and thought for a moment. His eyes slid slightly out of focus as he became lost in his thoughts. Eventually, he looked back apologetically at her.

“No,”

“You were injured on a mission we went on earlier tonight. We found you here in your bathroom,”

“Oh,” Tim said softly. “I’m sorry,”

“Sorry for what?” Conner asked as he sat on the other side of Tim. 

“I messed up. So I’m sorry and I’ll do better next time if you give me another chance,” Tim explained quietly. Cassie looked down at him with a look of concern. The boy on the floor seemed so different from the one she had known for months. He seemed so different from the calculated, stubborn person who never seemed to give up. Instead, he looked almost scared. 

“What do you mean ‘if we give you another chance’?”

“If you let me try again, prove to you that I’m enough to keep around,” He looked up to her confused, as if his point was obvious. Cassie wanted to be sick. “I’m sorry you had to take time to take care of me. I’ll be fine from here,”

“Hold up,” Conner interjected. “Ro-Tim you have a concussion. We’re not just going to leave you here!”

“Why? You have things to do and you don’t need to be watching me. I can take care of myself. I’ve done it for years,” Slowly they glanced over to each other. All unsure what to make of that. 

“Where were your parents?” Bart blurted out. They both shot a look at him but they knew they were all thinking it. 

“Gone,” He said bitterly. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes as he paused. “They were always gone,” 

“Gone as in dead?” Conner elbowed Bart sharply as he yelped. “I was just asking!”

“They’re not dead, just not around. I think they’re in Malaysia now,” Tears began to slide down his face as he smiled weakly. “At least they remembered my birthday this year,” 

“What about Batman or Nightwing? Are they around?” Cassie asked as Tim wiped away his tears slowly. They all noticed when his hand almost missed his face completely. 

“I can’t bother them. They’re so much more, and I’m just me. I try not to bother them unless I have something for a case, patrol, or training. They make me live with them now. Apparently, they don’t want me home alone,”

“But?” Conner prompted. 

“But ’m not good enough for them so they shouldn’t be doing it,” He finished promptly. His words became more slurred together the longer he talked, as his eyelids drooped lightly. 

“Someone keep him talking,” Cassie said suddenly. “We need to keep him awake long enough for Nightwing to get here,”

“You called Nightwing?” Tim cried out as he looked at Cassie with what could only be described as utmost betrayal. “Why would you do that?”

“You need someone who actually knows what they’re doing and you need medical attention,” Cassie said confused as Tim squeezed his eyes shut. 

“Do you know what you’ve done? He’s never going to let me back out. He’ll just realize that I’m not worth it and move on. I could have taken care of this myself,”

“You tried to,” Conner said almost frustratingly. “You tried to and you collapsed in your bathroom because you didn’t want to come to any of us for help!” 

“I’m sorry,” Tim said instantly. He tensed up as he looked away from Conner. “I’ll try to do better in the field next time,” 

“This isn’t about getting hurt. This is about getting help when you get hurt. You can come to us, we can help you!”

“But then you’ll see I’m not as good as the other Robins!” Tim burst out, tears poured down his face as he looked up to Conner. “I’m not as flexible or stealthy as Nightwing. I’m nowhere near as strong as the second Robin was. I’m nothing compared to them,” 

“I’m not as fast as Barry,” Bart stated, his voice broke the small silence that had fallen over them. “I’m not as respected as Wally either,” 

“I’m not as strong as Clark,” Conner said as he nodded. 

“I’m not respected like Donna,” Cassie added in with a small laugh.

“So who cares if you’re not like the other Robins were!” Conner laughed. “You’re our Robin, that’s all that matters,”

“You really mean that?” Tim whispered. Cassie looked at him sadly as she realized that he probably didn’t hear that often, or lot’s of positive reinforcement in general for that matter. 

“Yeah, I do. We all do,” Conner said smiling. Suddenly they heard a loud noise from the main room as the zeta-tube announced someone’s entrance. Footsteps pounded lightly on the floor as someone ran towards them. They looked up to see Nightwing as he ran into the room before he paused in the doorway. His hair was disheveled and his mask seemed slanted on his face. He was breathing heavily almost as if he had run the entire way there, which by the looks of it Cassie figured he might have. 

“Robin!” They moved out of his way quirky as he kneeled down next to Tim. His fingers lightly brushed the hair out of the younger boy's face. “I came as soon as I heard,”

“You left your case?” Tim asked, visibly upset as he looked up at him. Nightwing inhaled deeply before he looked back down at Tim. “That was important you need to be working on that-”

“Robin, you come before cases. I’ll always come for you,” They all watched in silence as Nightwing leaned down before his arms wrapped underneath Tim. He fought against him for a moment before he curled into his touch as he was listed into the air. Nightwing nodded at them as he walked through the open door with Tim curled against his chest. He didn’t have to speak for them to know how grateful he was. She replayed his words in her head as he left and she began to wonder. She wasn’t sure if he had always assumed he had to be perfect for them to work with him but the longer she thought on it the more sense everything made. The way that he would disappear when missions had ended or stood off to the side slightly during downtime as if he was intruding just by being there. The three of them shared a look and they knew that everything they had done for months had just changed. They knew that when he got back that things would be different. They doubted that it would be anywhere near the same. Robin no longer seemed like a Bat, someone who seemed to have nothing else but the emblem he wore on his chest. He was young and scared, he seemed more like them than they had ever realized before. A scared, lost kid who trusted them, and they all knew they trusted him too.

**Author's Note:**

> Friendly reminder to:  
> -Wash your hands  
> -Drink some water (Coffee doesn't count, I know)  
> -Eat some food if you haven't in about 3 hours  
> -Look away from your computer if you haven't in a couple of hours
> 
> Have an amazing day!!


End file.
